When The Clouds Have Cleared
by xxSerendipityxx
Summary: NS. The brother of a criminal facing the death penalty threatens the CSI's to withhold evidence, and their lives are at risk
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I don't own CSI or anything associated with it. I wouldn't bother suing me; I have no money :)  
  
Spoilers: None so far  
  
Title: When The Clouds Have Cleared  
  
Summary: (NS) The brother of a criminal they have put behind bars threatens the CSI's. As his brother awaits trail and possible death penalty, he goes to great lengths to scare the team into withholding evidence.  
  
Chapter One  
  
"Nick! Keep your eyes on the road!" Sara yelled from the passenger seat. It was the fourth time he had been distracted by his overly full coffee cup, and it was the fourth time they had had a near miss with oncoming traffic.  
  
"You shouldn't be drinking that while your driving. Pass it to me"  
  
"Nice try Sidle. This is my coffee. It's your own fault you didn't get any while we were at the lab" He replied with a smug grin.  
  
Sara just rolled her eyes "Fine. But when we end up dead under heap of twisted metal, don't say I didn't tell you so"  
  
"I've always loved your optimism, Sar" Nick laughed as he switched radio stations in search of something decent. "We'll be back at the lab soon anyway. I think I can handle keeping us alive until then" He settled on a channel playing a favourite country song of his, causing Sara to roll her eyes again. He noticed her reaction, and started singing along loudly to goad her further.  
  
Watching Nick's little performance, Sara had to use all of her self-control to keep herself from bursting out and laughing. He was singing and dancing around to the music whole-heartedly, apparently unaware of how ridiculous he looked.  
  
She had begun to giggle, when Nick suddenly stopped cold.  
  
"What-" Sara had only started her sentence when she too fell into a shocked silence. The two CSI's gaped at the scene in front of them. They had arrived back at the lab; only it didn't look the same way they had left it. The door and several windows had been broken, and inside they could see various debris scattered across the floor. A police car was parked out front, and more than a few people were milling around the area.  
  
Nick shut off the engine and finally spoke. "Break in?"  
  
"With all the people on the night shift inside?" Sara stared for a few more moments before taking off her seat belt and climbing out of the car, Nick following her. After asking several people and getting no really coherent answers, they set out to find Grissom in hopes that he would give them some form of explanation.  
  
********* A/N: Sorry it was so short, the rest of the chapters should be longer. I actually had no idea what this was going to be about before I started... I just sort of wrote the first line and went from there. (Then I realised I was going to need a summary so I vaguely decided were how rest of my chapters would go :) ) Anyway, please R&R and tell me what you think, I need to now if this is worth continuing. :)  
  
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	2. People Like You

Disclaimer: CSI and everything affiliated with it belongs to me. Except for the bits that don't.

i.e. all of it ;)

A/N: A giant thankyou to everyone who reviewed :) It's kind of strange seeing that people are actually reading this. Lol. And yes, I am planning on having Greg in it. ;) Although, he most likely won't play a major part.... not that I don't love Greg :) Oh, and Cuadripteryx, I didn't mean the NS was threatening their lives; I just meant their lives were being threatened. The summary probably is a bit confusing :) And at the moment I'm thinking all of their lives initially, then leaving just one or two of them in danger. But I might change my mind. *shrugs* Anyway, on with the story....

Chapter Two – People Like You

They found their supervisor standing on the sidewalk, conversing seriously with a police officer.  When he spotted the pair approaching him, he halted the discussion to greet them.

"Nick. Sara."  That however, was the extent of his dialogue. Grissom immediately resumed the conversation he was having beforehand.  It obviously didn't occur to him that they might be wondering about the quite obliterated state of the lab.

"He's a lot of help"

"He's Grissom" Sara stated matter-of-factly.

Nick sighed and looked around. "This is ridiculous. You'd think _someone _would want to tell us about it.  I mean, this isn't exactly a regular occurrence" 

Sara just nodded and scanned the crowd.  Finally, she spotted a slightly shaken Greg leaning against one of the building's outer walls.  She nudged Nick and they both made their way over to talk to him.  

"Hey Greggo"

Greg looked up and gave them a smile. " Hey guys"

They decided to get straight to the point. "So what the hell happened here?"

"You haven't heard?"  Nick and Sara both shook their heads and studied Greg. He seemed a little worn out, but seemed to brighten a bit at the prospect of relaying the whole situation to them.

"Oh. Well, you guys remember Andrew D'Adamo?"

Sara thought for a moment before speaking. "Yeah… didn't we get him for killing those Hispanic girls?"

"Yep. It seems his brother Seth isn't too happy about Andrew facing the death penalty.  He came in just after you guys left and said he wanted to speak to Grissom" Greg took this moment to pause, presumably for dramatic effect.

"And?" 

"Hey, I'm getting there. Keep your pants on Sara. Well, actually, you don't _have _to..."

Nick interjected "Greg. Focus."

He cleared his throat and continued. "Right. So he's pretty civil at first, but when we try and tell him Grissom's at a crime scene, he starts getting angry. Like, really angry.He's knocking things onto the floor, yelling and pushing people over. That's when Warrick and Cath come out and try and restrain him. _That's _when he pulls out a gun and starts waving it around."  Nick and Sara both gasped. Greg continued. " None of us there at that point were carrying, so he pretty much had the upper hand despite being outnumbered. He was quiet for a while, not letting anyone leave or even speak. Then, one of the lab techs tries to make a call for help, but he catches her. He went totally ballistic. Crazy. Started shooting at the windows and yelling all over again.  Luckily for us, he obviously wasn't quiet about it.  10 minutes later, there's police cars surrounding the lab."

"Man, you sure can miss a lot in an hour and a half" Nick was shocked.

"Yeah. Just be grateful you weren't there. So anyway, he starts to panic. He knows there are plenty of cops with their guns trained right on him. So he grabs the receptionist and holds her in front of him with a gun to her head.  Next thing we know he's out the door.  Only thing is, because he's got the receptionist, the police can't shoot. They basically have to watch him walk away."

"Wait... you are not telling me that after all that, he got away"

" Uh huh"

"You're joking'

"Nope"

Sara let out an exasperated sigh. " Well is everybody ok? What happened to the receptionist?"

"She's ok. Apparently he let her go once he was far enough away not to be threatened.  She's over there." Greg motioned to a shaken looking woman being treated by paramedics. "As for everybody else, a lot of cuts and bruises, and Cath has to get stiches for a nasty one above her eye. But no, no serious injuries yet"

Nick raised his eyebrows "Yet?"

Greg paused for a moment, considering how to say it. "When the receptionist came back, she had a message from D'Adamo. He said that if we don't destroy the evidence against his brother, we won't be so lucky next time"

"Lucky?"

"Next time?"

"He said he will go to any means necessary to stop that evidence from getting into court. And that he won't have a problem getting rid of any people who might stop him from doing that "

"People like who, Greg?"

"Um, like you guys"

*****

A/N: Da da dun! Lol. I know, again with the short chapters... but it's longer than the last one at least. Please R&R :)


	3. Picking Up The Pieces

Chapter Three- Picking Up The Pieces

A/N :) No, I'm not dead, and yes, I'm updating : P Sorry it's been so long, but since my last update I've had  writer's block, 2 giant English essays, a History project, 2 maths assessments, a maths investigation, a chipped tooth which needed replacing (there was a bacon incident... don't ask), a science assignment, a surprise party to plan for a friend and the flu.    

Thanks to everyone for your great reviews :) 

*******

"People like us?"

Greg was getting frustrated with this conversation. "Yes, like you"

"You mean li-"

Greg interrupted before Sara could say 'like us?' one more time. "Anyone involved in that case. So that means you, Nick, Warrick, Catherine and Grissom"

"Oh" They both were quiet as they processed this information. The reality of the situation was hard to grasp

Sara furrowed her brow "But... we can't just _not _hand over the evidence. And there's no way we're intentionally compromising it either" 

Nick looked down and rubbed his forehead. "Well, since that's not an option, what does that leave us with?"

Again, there was silence as they came to realise just how much danger this was putting them in.

Sara suddenly spoke. "I'm not having police protection"

"What?" Greg couldn't believe it. "Why not?"

"Are you kidding? There is no way I'm being followed around and treated like I'm incapable of doing so much as going shopping."

"But-"

"No." Sara, as could be expected, was standing her ground.  

"Well, if Sara's not having protection, neither am I" Nick suddenly stated to the surprise of both Greg and Sara.

"What?" Greg was sure both of his friends had gone quite insane.  

"I'm not going into protection if it means leaving any of my friends by themselves."

Proper contact with anyone else who wasn't in protection would be difficult, and Nick wasn't about to leave Sara in danger when he couldn't get to her. She was one of his best friends, and he didn't want anything to happen to her. 

"Nick, you don't have to-" Sara began to protest.

"I wouldn't start that, Sidle. I can be just as stubborn as you when I want to" Nick interrupted, flashing her a grin.  Sara glared at him, knowing she wasn't going to get anywhere with this.

"Fine. Have it your way." She hid it well, but in truth she was almost relieved Nick wouldn't back down. As much as she wanted to be 'Sara Sidle, pillar of strength', she couldn't help feeling a little scared and helpless in the current situation. And to Sara that was the second worst thing in the world.  The first was admitting it. 

"You're both crazy!" Greg stated before throwing his arms up in disbelief and walking away.  

"Hey, we better get over there" Nick motioned to where it seemed the entire night shift had assembled, over by Grissom's car. They made their way across the car park, Nick leaning against Grissom's Tahoe, and Sara sitting on the ground next to him. 

"Okay, okay" Grissom called out in an attempt to silence the crowd.  "Everybody please-" 

" Shut up!" Hodges yelled suddenly, bringing an abrupt end to the chatter.

"Uh, thankyou Hodges. Now everybody, just calm down and listen for a moment.  First of all, you are all obliviously off for the rest of the night" Grissom paused while some people actually cheered despite the previous events of the night. "Secondly, I assure you that until Seth D'Adamo is apprehended, we will do everything necessary to ensure your safety.  I stress that the majority of you are not in any direct danger, as he is only interested in the five CSI's who worked his case.  The best thing you can all do right now is go home and get some rest.  I'll see you tomorrow night" With that the night shift began to slowly file out of the parking lot into their respective cars.

"Hang on. Nick, Sara, Warrick and Catherine. I need to speak to you" Grissom called through the crowd. Groaning, the four made their way back to where he was standing. 

"I want to organise police protection for the four of you and myself.  We're D'Adamo's main targets. Actually we're his only targets."

Nick glanced sideways at Sara. If she didn't want police protection she'd have to say something now. Sara saw him looking at her, and got the gist.

"Um, Griss?"

"What is it Sara?"

"Well, see...  I don't you to organise police protection for me. I, um, don't want it"

Grissom's face wore a similar expression to that of Greg's when she told him.

"And neither do I" Nick added tentatively. Grissom looked from Sara to Nick and back again.

"You can't be serious. It won't be safe"

"We'll manage. Honestly Griss, don't worry about us" Fortunately Nick had managed to find a bit more confidence than he had a few moments ago. Grissom thought for a few moments. He didn't want Nick or Sara hurt, but he had a feeling he wasn't going to be able to talk them out of it either. 

"Ok. But Sara, you're staying with Nick. I don't want either of you alone."

"But-"

"It isn't open for discussion Sara. It's either that or protection."

Sara sighed in defeat and pulled her coat around her tighter.

"I take it there are no objections from any of the other members of the team?"  Grissom took the silence that followed as a confirmation. 

"So, can we go home now?" Warrick hadn't slept for the last 46 hours and was getting irritable.

Grissom smiled slightly. "Not yet." He turned around and pulled out a broom, dustpan and packet of garbage bags. "The lab needs a clean up"

Catherine looked horrified "Don't we have people who do that?"

"Well sure, but they're not here, and we need this place back to normal as soon as possible."  

Rolling their eyes, the four CSI's took a garbage bag each and headed for the building.

"Hey Grissom," Catherine called over to him with a grin. "Don't think you're getting out of this. Come on" She laughed as she held out a garbage bag to him.  He and Catherine took the foyer, while Warrick, Nick and Sara tackled the remainder of the mess.  

******

Chapter 4.... Sara 'moves in' (if you could call it that) to nick's place, and ... actually I don't know yet  :P Guess I'll have to wait and see

I'm on school holidays now, so I should hopefully be updating a little more regularly. If it's taking me forever again, feel free to email me and tell me to hurry my butt along, lol, sometimes I just need to be reminded :P (although not saying that you get abusive or anything) Anyway, please R &R :)


	4. Omelettes, Hair Dye and Showerheads

A/N: Ok, so I finally wrote a chapter over 1500 words. You proud of me ? :P 

warricksgirl: I think there's going to be a bit more Warrick, and I don't know if there will be more Greg.  I have a habit of changing my mind 50 times before I write something, so I can't really tell :)

sarasidle3: you'll have to wait and see... ;)

And thanks to everybody who reviewed!

Chapter Four – Omelettes, Hair Dye and Showerheads 

Sara and Nick arrived back at his apartment just as the sun was rising.  They had each drove their own cars, and made a detour to Sara's apartment so she could pack her things.  Now completely both emotionally and physically tired, they collapsed onto the couch.  

"So, what's for breakfast?" Sara queried as she tucked her legs underneath her.

"I have no idea. Whatever you make for yourself," Nick teased.

Sara opened her mouth in mock disgust and threw a pillow at him.  "Excuse me, I am your guest and I demand to be provided with full breakfast privileges," She said in her best high-and-mighty voice while trying not to laugh. 

Nick smiled at the sudden change in Sara. Grissom had given them all time off until the D'Adamo situation was resolved, and while she had complained about it all the way home, he could see her starting to relax already.  

"Alright then Miss, what would you like?" 

"Anything, as long as it doesn't have meat in it,"

Nick hoisted himself off the couch, muttering something about crazy vegetarians as he went.

"Hey, you go watch a pig decompose in front of you and then try and tell me that eating meat is not the slightest bit revolting." Nick rolled his eyes good-naturedly at her from the kitchen as she continued. " Just make sure there's none in my breakfast ok?"

Nick nodded. "Alright. Bacon and eggs it is."

"Nick!"

"Alright, Alright, I'll make an omelette."  He laughed.

"Thankyou," Sara yawned as she lay down on the couch, her head resting on her arms.

"Hey, don't fall asleep.  We're going to have to get used to being awake during the day and asleep at night."  

"Mmm," Was the only response he got.

10 minutes later, Nick was carrying two plates over to the couch that now supported a barely conscious Sara. 

"Hey Sar, breakfast's ready," Nick whispered as he placed her omelette on the coffee table in front of her. Receiving no reply, he gently shook her shoulder. "Sara, wake up," She rolled onto her stomach and began drowsily murmuring into her arms, the only word he caught being 'pirates'.  

Laughing, he sat in the armchair across from the couch as Sara sat up. 

"Well, that's twice you've proved me wrong," Nick stated as he propped his feet up on a stool.

Sara brushed her hair from her face and shot him a confused look. "How do you mean?"

"I thought you never slept," He grinned "But that's twice now I've seen otherwise."

"Oh. Well, I don't want to alarm you Nick, but I _am _human," She smiled, picking up her plate and stabbing the omelette with her fork.  Nick laughed and feigned shock before picking up the remote and switching the television on.  The pair settled in and ate in companionable silence as they watched Nick's copy of 'The Sixth Sense'.

:~:~:~:~:~:

"Well, I'm going to have a shower." Sara paused for a moment. "You do have a shower, don't you?"

Nick shot her a quizzical look and laughed. "Yes Sara, I do have a shower. It's the first door on your right." He motioned down the hall. "I don't smell that bad do I?"

Sara smirked. "Not most of the time," She remarked as she stood up and slid past Nick, who was still sitting in the armchair.  "I hope you don't mind me using all your hot water!" She called back from the hallway.

Sara knelt down on the floor of Nick's guest bedroom and unzipped the bag she had dumped there. Pulling out a pair of jeans, underwear and a blue singlet top, she stood up and made her way back down the hall and into the bathroom.  

Upon entering the room, Sara saw that Nick had put a clean towel and bar of soap on the basin for her. _Cute, _she thought as she closed the door behind her.  She quickly discarded the clothes she was wearing and stepped into the shower. Once it was running, Sara made the mistake of trying to adjust the height of the showerhead.  As soon as she turned the knob on the side of it, the whole thing swung down and water was now spurting from where it was attached to the wall, as well as from the showerhead itself.  If that wasn't bad enough, the water hadn't heated up yet, and it was freezing cold.

Nick was walking past the bathroom when he heard Sara curse, followed by a series of muffled bangs and what sounded like bursts of water. 

"Uh, Sara? You ok?" 

_Bang _"Uh huh" _Thump _" I'm Fine," She shielded her eyes with her arm as she tried to use her other arm to pull the showerhead up and stem the flow of water at the same time.  "Shit," 

Nick furrowed his brow as he tried to work out what could possibly be going on in there.  That was, of course, until he realised that thinking about Sara in shower was probably not the smartest idea.  

"Uh, okay then," Still thoroughly confused, he resumed walking down the hall. 

After several more minutes of cursing and splashing, Sara finally managed to fix the showerhead back in its original position, and stop the spurts of water.  Letting out an exasperated sigh, she picked up the shampoo bottle and poured the liquid into her palm.

:~:~:~:~:~:

"Finally. I was beginning to think you drowned yourself."  Nick grinned over the paper as Sara emerged from the bathroom.

"Nah. I think it would take longer than an hour for me to drown myself in there anyway," She smiled.

"Well it sure sounded like you did," 

"Huh? Oh... that. Your showerhead and I just had a bit of a disagreement," She picked up a brush and began running it through her hair.   Nick just smiled and shook his head at her before looking back down at his paper. 

Sara pulled her wet hair into a ponytail and sat in a chair opposite to Nick at the table. Supporting her head with hand, she studied him for a moment.

"Hey," She began, and by the tone of her voice Nick had the feeling he wasn't going to like what she said next. He was right. "Let me dye your hair."

"You're not serious," Nick put the paper down and stared at her incredulously. 

"Come on, why not?" 

He was beginning to think that maybe Sara being so relaxed wasn't such a good thing after all.

"Where would you get hair dye anyway? You're not going to tell me that you carry around emergency packs of it for occasions such as this, are you?"

Sara laughed. "No, never been a fan of excessive cosmetic use myself. But you have some."

"I do?"

"Yep, I found it in your medicine cabinet,"

"How'd that get there? What color is it?" He didn't ask why she was in his medicine cabinet in the first place.

"I have no idea, and blonde. One of your, er, _dates_," she raised an eyebrow and smiled slightly "or whatever you like to call them, probably left it there."

"I'm not dying my hair blonde,"

"Please?" Sara knew she sounded like a four year old, but if that's what it was going to take to convince him, then that was what she was going to do.

"Come on, it's not even permanent,"

"Oh, and that makes it so much better,"

"It does!" 

"Uh uh. No way."

:~:~:~:~:~:

"Oh, it does not sting. You're such a wuss," Sara chuckled as she leaned over the back of Nick's head. 

"I can't believe I'm doing this,"

 Sara just smiled at him.  "You have to trust me Nick. Now put your head in the sink. We have to rinse it out,"

He reluctantly obeyed, with a very palpable what-have-I-gotten-myself-into look on his face.  Sara picked up the extension hose she had attached to the tap, and turned the water on. She held it over Nick's hair and rinsed, combing it through with her fingers until the last of the dye was gone. 

"There." She stepped back and threw a towel to him as he was sitting up. He began drying his hair, but stopped immediately when he saw the look on Sara's face.  

"What?" He turned around to look in the mirror and saw exactly what.  His hair was a perfect shade of orange.  "What the hell?"

Sara's face still showed a look of utter shock as walked over and reached into the shower, pulling out Nick's shampoo and reading the label. "Oh. _Oh._"  Her shocked expression was replaced by one of realisation as she continued to read. 

"What? What happened?"

Sara looked up sheepishly. "Uh, your shampoo has silicon in it. It coats your hair and stays there, and, um, it can distort the color of dyes," 

"Now she tells me," Nick was staring into the mirror disbelievingly.

Sara cocked her head to one side, forcing down the smile that was threatening to break on her face. "Well... it's not... that bad" 

"Sara, my hair is _orange._"  

She looked at him apologetically, before the urge to burst out laughing got the better of her and she did exactly that.

"Oh, Nick, I'm sorry-" She managed to say between fits of laughter. "-But, well, you look so odd. You have to admit it's funny,"  

"You're not helping,"

"Okay, okay," She sat on the edge of the bath and managed to cull her laughter down to the occasional amused chuckle. "It says on the box it lasts for 6-8 washes. So, we just have to wash your hair 6-8 times in a row." She stated as if it were the most obvious and normal thing in the world. "It'll come out,"

He raised a skeptical eyebrow at her, but his mood seemed to lighten a little. "It better, Sidle," 

:~:~:~:~:~:

Half an hour and a bottle of shampoo later, Nick was relieved to be able to say that his hair was back to its original state. Although, when he stood in the light, the slightest tinge of orange was still visible.  Sara didn't tell him this, of course. 

The remainder of the day passed fairly quickly and uneventfully.  They watched TV, played Scrabble ("No Nick, you _can't_ use dirty words,"), Monopoly ("I saw that Nick, give it back,"), and even went outside and did some gardening ("Nick! The water goes on the plants, not me!").  By the time it was 7:00, they were both ready to collapse, neither of them having slept since the day before.  

"Urgh. I am so tired," Sara complained as she sprawled herself across the couch. 

Nick motioned for her to move over and sat himself on the couch next to her. "I hear you. There's no way I'm cooking anything tonight, and unless you want to-" Sara shook her head. "-then I would suggest .... pizza?"

"Pizza," She agreed and Nick reached for the phone. Dialing a number, he ordered two large pizzas, and Sara smiled when she realized that he remembered exactly what type of pizza she ate. 

That done, Nick put the receiver down and leaned back into the couch.  The pair fell into an uncomfortable silence as they considered the topic they had managed to avoid all day; the elephant in the room, so to speak.   

"So," Nick began slowly, "this stuff with D'Adamo..."

Sara shifted in her seat. "Yeah. Pretty intense, huh?"

"Yeah."  Nick looked around the room, eager to get off the topic he had brought up. It seemed Sara had the same idea, reaching for the remote and turning the television on. 

Neither of them heard the bathroom window slide open. 

******

A/N: Sorry if that sucked, this chapter just didn't seem to want to cooperate with me, especially at the beginning. I'm going away on a week long trip with my family *****shudder* the day after next, so I won't be able to update for a while :(  

Please click that cute lil button down there and leave me some reviews for when I get back, they make my day! :)  


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